Love your body: WIN a $10K wellness trip to Thailand

Sponsored by Female for Life

Take that mince pie out of your mouth (well put it down for later) because have I got the ultimate motivation to love your body through the festive season?

A 7-night wellness retreat to Absolute Sanctuary, Koh Samui, Thailand.

YES! One very lucky Styling You reader will get to join me – and Female For Life’s Melanie Becker – for a week in April 2015 of total health focus.

More details on the total prize below – plus how you could book and join us for a fabulous retreat should you wish to join us for the week.

Me smiling at the thought of spending a week getting healthy in Thailand. Wearing: Female for Life Lovely & Loose top under Bumba jacket

But first … Christmas.

This is probably the trickiest time of year for me to stay on track with my health goals.

I’m not going to kid you.

I love a glass of champers. I love the canapes that usually accompany a champers.

I love cooking and preparing fabulous food for friends and family.

And I very much enjoy eating said fabulous food.

I also know that I’ve been working too hard to maintain some kind of balance in my life to throw it all away over an excess of Christmas pudding.

This is the second Christmas since I made a sustainable and conscious decision to put my health first in my often-crazy work-life balance.

(You can catch up with my health story here, here and here.)

Female for Life Lovely & Loose top under Bumba jacket; Vixen pants

I’m in a good space, I think.

I think that happens when you commit to supporting your body and your health over a long period of time.

I can tell you that I’ve only been able to sustain that long period of time business because I’ve finally found a formula that works for my body and my lifestyle. It’s a formula that’s endorsed and supported by my GP.

It’s never been about weight loss. It’s always been about how I FEEL.

I’m a bit of a cracked record on this as it really has been the key to keeping going. To keeping up with a healthy eating plan that works for me – and for keeping up with an exercise plan that works for me.

Female for Life Chillax Black top | Solero leggings

I can tell you that I don’t FEEL very good at all if I have periods that take me from my regular yoga classes.

And I certainly don’t FEEL very good if I have a sustained period of time away when I’m not in charge of what’s on the menu.

I just start to feel a bit ICKY.

In the past, this ICKY feeling would have thrown me off the health wagon altogether. I’d give up. Thinking it was all too hard. Poor old thyroidy me. Hashtag #pityparty.

Not any more.

No, I just wake up, get on my exercise gear, immediately feel motivated and just get out there with the aim of getting back in some kind of balance.

The tips below are things that work for me – they may not work for you. I’m not a health professional. It’s super important that you get professional advice to help you with any changes to your diet and exercise patterns.

10 tips for loving your body this festive season

1. Be realistic. It IS the festive season. There are more parties and gatherings than normal. It’s a fact. Acknowledge that the balance may more easily get out of whack at this time of year and make sure you have measures in place to help get back in balance.

2. Don’t over-commit. A friend told me he had a party each night of last week. I know I could not do that and come out the other side feeling in any way loving towards my body. If you find yourself with a calendar exploding with parties, catch-ups and gatherings, take stock and work out whether you can either say no to one or two or make an early exit from them. Remember, sleep is your friend.

3. Stock up your fridge with healthy snacks and meal ingredients. When it all gets busy upon busy, you need your fridge on your side. This takes a little organisation but having some quick and easy meal solutions means that your body will still get the nutrition it needs. If you have eggs, baby spinach, tomatoes and avocados always on hand, you’ve always got a healthy meal in minutes.

4. Healthy food need not be boring food. If you’re in charge of the menu or taking a plate to any festive parties or gatherings, take the opportunity to prepare fresh and fabulous food that tastes amazing but is good for you too. Interesting and flavoursome salads are easy to create ahead (try this one) and serve with barbecued meat or seafood. Canapes need not be fried. Think simple things like these and these. Dessert based around fabulous summer fruit is always a winner.

5. Get out and exercise in the morning. You’ve got more chance of not skipping out on your exercise plan if you set the alarm and jump up and get active in the morning. And chances are the evenings are getting booked up with Christmas drinks and party invites. This way you’ll stay on track and maintain some kind of balance.

Talula Purple top | Viber pants

6. Exercise with a friend. “We need to catch up before Christmas!” How many times have you heard that already? Here’s an idea, how about the catch-up be a “walk and talk” followed by brunch or G&T depending on what time of the day it is? I’ve been doing this a lot of late. Best catch ups ever.

7. Ask for new active wear as a gift. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I’m so motivated by how I feel when it comes to maintaining my health. A big part of that feeling is how I feel in my active wear. Good active wear like the pieces featured here from the new Female for Life collection feel amazing to exercise in. They look good, they suck and hold you in (in a comfortable way). The quality is second to none (I’ve got pieces I’m still wearing from three years ago). Why not send a not-so subtle hint about what pieces you’d like to unwrap on Christmas Day (I find an email with exact links to each product works very well!) or strongly suggest a gift voucher?

8. Plan active get togethers with family. Get in the surf together; play backyard cricket; cool off with pool volleyball … whatever your favourite way to be active as a family together, do it and do more of it. It’s a great way to earn that piece of pavlova.

9. Embrace alcohol-free days. I’m mostly pretty good at not drinking at all Monday-Thursday. I say mostly because if there is an occasion then I have a drink because I want to. The mostly bit keeps me on track – and is essential at this time of year. If there isn’t an event or occasion happening then I’ll make soda water in the SodaStream, throw in some lime and just pretend. The more I can do this across the very social weeks of Christmas and New Year, I know I’ll feel better.

10. Christmas Day is only one day. There may be parties and gatherings either side of this one day but it’s the one day that we tend to focus on. I think it’s ok to blow out the health plan on that day if you treat it as a one day thing and not a festival. That’s my plan anyway. Cheers to that.

WIN

How would you like to win an amazing health-giving prize worth more than $10,000?

The prize includes a luxury seven-day health and wellness retreat to Koh Samui, Thailand, as well as a Vitamix and four Female for Life activewear outfits.

I’m so excited about this trip and the opportunity for one Styling You reader to come along and focus on their health with Female for Life’s Melanie Becker and me.

You can read all about all the inclusions (yes there are spa treatments too!) and ENTER here.

Come along with us!

If you don’t want to wait and see if you’ll win, why not book to come along with us. The retreat will be from April 18-25, 2015. To book, head to the Absolute Sanctuary website and book the Be Fit lifestyle program for those days. The Be Fit program is only one of the programs offered at Absolute and every program is tailored to the person – you create your own inclusions. If you do book, make sure to let Absolute Sanctuary know what you were referred by Styling You and Female for Life. I’d love it if you could also please email me: [email protected].

So tell me, Stylers … how much would you love to go on this wellness retreat? Got any festive season health tips to share?

The post Love your body: WIN a $10K wellness trip to Thailand appeared first on Styling You. Click through to continue the conversation. The most fun happens in the comments' section on the blog.